


If You Do

by ChokolatteJedi



Category: Greek and Roman Mythology
Genre: Challenge Response, Community: 1_million_words, F/M, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Mild Language, Moral Lessons, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Tarot, Tarot Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-11
Updated: 2013-08-11
Packaged: 2017-12-23 05:36:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/922616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChokolatteJedi/pseuds/ChokolatteJedi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An ancient tarot reading spins a tale of three gods and the intersection of their lives</p>
            </blockquote>





	If You Do

**Author's Note:**

> For my DeepBlueSea trope challenge, "protagonist" and the 1_Million_Words weekend challenge, where I was assigned the following five tarot cards:

  
**The Magician**  
_The mountebank, one who bridges the gap between heaven and earth, one of action, practicality, conviction, manipulation, and determination_  


Hades was bored. He had been bored for something like seven decades, and listless for another eleven before that. Honestly, ruling the dead was no fun. Zeus, the jerk, was ruler of the other gods, which was a) completely unfair, and b) just an amazing amount of power. Plus, he ruled the weather, which meant he could make it do whatever he wanted. And he got to marry Hera, the most powerful and wisest of their sisters. Basically, he had it made. Posidon ruled the seas, which meant controlling all of the life in them. Fish, monsters, waves, _maenaids_.

And what did Hades get stuck with? The dead. And he couldn't even rule them in the same sense that Zeus and Posidon controlled their domains. He wasn't allowed to take them before their time was up in really ironic ways unless they had somehow pissed off Zeus, in which case he was willing to look the other way. And once they were dead he had to make sure that they had a place to stay that wasn't too crowded and find something for the bad ones to do, and keep the good ones from wandering into the area reserved for the bad ones and accidentally ending up with punishments they didn't deserve and...

He wasn't even allowed to create an undead zombie army with these souls he supposedly ruled and wreak havoc across the earth!

Basically, ruling the dead sucked, and he hadn't even gotten a queen! He was lonely, and bored, and sick of doing his _job_. Gods shouldn't have to work! He should at least get to have a few nymphs, but no, they were immortal and never died. And none of them were particularly interested in relocating to hell permanently, even to become a queen.

So Hades brooded, and angsted, and counted the decades. And sometimes, he plotted.

oooOooo

  
**The Seven of Swords**  
_Thoughtless, impulsive behavior, secret plans or hidden wits, the possibility of failure if intellect fails_  


Persephone pranced through the golden fields with her friends, laughing and singing and enjoying the feeling of the breeze in her hair. Anyone seeing her would assume that she was having a grand time, and certainly her nymph minders were. But secretly, she was a little bored.

There were only so many times that she could romp through the same field, picking the same cornflowers that would re-grow overnight to braid into each other's hair, laughing and singing the same songs. The Nymphs didn't think so, but then they didn't have a brain between them, and Persephone, being a demi-goddess, was far more intelligent. And right now, she was bored. She looked at her cousin Athena, a fierce warrior and strategist who already had a devoted group of followers. Or her cousin Hephaestus, who build wonderful creations in his forge!

All her mother would let her do was frolic in the same field, day after month, year after decade. Honestly, she was sick of it.

oooOooo

  
**The Nine of Wands**  
_An unassailable position of order and discipline, a secure position that might falter, courage and stability, cautious and defensive, inner strength_  


There was an order to this world, however, as determined by the fates and the gods and the ruler of the gods. And as much as he disliked it, Hades could do nothing to completely upset that order. However, he could affect a small part of it. One life changed, one thread rewoven, and then perhaps he could be content.

Hades was cautious, however, of upsetting Zeus' order too much. As the god of the dead, it wasn't like his life could get _that_ much worse, but there was always Prometheus there, in the back of his mind, showing that there was a worse alternative.

Still, Hades had a plan, and with discipline, and courage, and a little bit of luck, it might just work.

Her flaw was her routine, and her mother's complacency. The daughter was as lovely as any nymph, and a demi-goddess in her own right, as was his due as one of the highest gods. She appeared innocent, but he was the judge of souls, and he could seen beneath her fake smiles. Her mother would be busy this week, with harvest festivals across the world, and would be even less attentive than usual. If he was cautious and stuck to his plan, he would soon have himself a queen.

oooOooo

  
**The Eight of Swords**  
_Damned if you do, damned if you don't, to live in fear or to move and risk being cut to pieces_  


Persephone looked around the great, dark halls gloomily. She had wished for something different, for a new life, and it seemed that she was going to get her wish. She knew very little of her Uncle Hades, as he almost never left his domain, but her mother had told her that he was dark and angry and dangerous. She was a little scared, but at the same time, she was kind of excited. This world was nothing like the one she had been in, and it was something new for her to explore. Her mindless companions were gone, and out from under her mother's watchful eye, she might have someone interesting to converse with.

On the other hand, she knew the stories about her Uncle Zeus. She had a fairly good idea of what Hades intended to do with her. She was looking for a more grown up life, but she wasn't sure that she wanted to be _that_ grown up just yet.

Part of her wanted to look around, to explore this new land. But part of her thought she should be finding an escape route, back to the surface - it happened somewhat frequently in the stories her Uncle Zeus told. Another part of her wanted to stay in this one suite of rooms that Hades had dumped her in, where she would presumably be safe from the dead souls that filled his land and wait for her mother to find her. And yet another part of her wanted to be hidden from her mother's gaze forever, to escape from that cloying, mindless world.

In short, she wasn't sure if she was glad to be here or not, if she wanted her mother to rescue her or not. The only thing she did know was that this world was new and different than the one she was used to, and she wanted to see more.

oooOooo

  
**The Empress**  
_The mother goddess, one who both provides and withholds, one of fertility, comfort, power, nature, overprotectiveness, and possessiveness_  


Demeter was furious with her brothers, and the whole world was going to know it. Hades had done the unthinkable and taken her daughter, and Zeus! That royal idiot had let him! Foisting her off with some malarkey about rules and honor and Persephone's own choices. The girl was too young to make choices of her own, let alone these kinds of choices! She had just become Hades' consort for all eternity!

It didn't matter that Zeus had dozens of conquests younger than her, human and goddess alike. It didn't matter that Persephone's cousins were making choices like that of their own. Persephone was _her_ daughter, and only she had the right to make choices for the girl!

For centuries, Demeter had accommodated her brother and had nurtured Prometheus' little pets. But that ended now. Zeus might be the weather god, but she could call forth the storms and make barren the earth just as easily as he could. And as long as he refused to get her daughter back, as long as Hades refused to _give_ her back, the precious mortals would suffer.

And then they would all see how her precious brothers felt. Without the simpering mortals giving them worship and sacrifices, how long would the vain Zeus last? With hundreds dying from her winter, filling up Hades' realm, how long would he defy her?

They had taken her daughter and betrayed her, and they would both pay for it dearly.

oooOooo

_The moral of Hades' story is that great conviction and risk can result in great reward._

oooOooo

_The moral of Persephone's story is to be careful what you wish for._

oooOooo

_The moral of Demeter's story is everything in moderation._

oooOooo

_The real moral of this tale is that Zeus is kind of a jerk._


End file.
